bill: good morning. we'll start with a focus on our economy. fox news alert. the number one issue in the country is the economy, the jobs market. this is the lech to last weekly jobless report before the election first tuesday in november is just out. 369,000 americans filing for first time unemployment benefits dropping a bit last week but this number shows hiring has stalled. we'll dig a bit deeper into that too. good morning, everybody on a thursday. good to have you with us. i'm bill hemmer. martha: good morning, everybody. i'm martha maccallum. look where we've been since the start of the recession. the numbers are consistent since january if you look at

that chart. we've been 360 to 390 zone. bill: not impressive. stuart varney host the "varney & company" on the fox business network. what do the numbers say about the health of our economy, stuart? >> the numbers say there is too little highering and far too many lie yufs. if you go to the big picture, that unemployment rate that has been pushed down because literally millions of people have dropped out of the workforce. 369,000 new claims for unemployment benefits is still a very high number. down from last week but a very high number. if this economy were booming, bill, we would have at least 50,000, maybe 100,000 less jobless claims. bill: what is holding american business back from hiring [why is it not getting better? >> that is easy. that is uncertainty. uncertainty about the election. uncertainty about this fiscal cliff. uncertainty about future tax policy. uncertainty about obamacare

is it imposed or withdrawn. that is uncertainty. if you don't know what is coming down the pike you don't expand, you don't hire. bill: good point there. i found the revision last week bumping over 400,000. >> it was revised up, this is last week, to 392,000. you're right. that is the danger zone. that is bad news. bill: often times when you go to the revised number it tells a story about a drag but when do we get the final national unemployment number before the election, stuart? >> one week from tomorrow, 8:30 eastern sharp. that will be the jobs picture from the labor department. that will be the latest unemployment rate and number of new jobs created and number of people that dropped out of the workforce. bill: 7.8% was the marker last month. >> yes it was. bill: are there projections where if will stand? >> i heard a lot more people say would drop out of the workforce. that would push unemployment rate down. i heard people will come back into the labor force and that will push the

unemployment rate up? predictions all over the map but none of them will be good news for president obama. bill: interesting. there is political equation in this. that is so obvious. thank you, stuart. catch you at 9:20 on "varney & company". thank you. martha: as we said in the intro here, we've got 12 days to go, mark another one off your calendar, folks until you cast your vote for most of us anyway except for those voting early. we heard about something that came out. it is an interview that president obama did where he apparently used choice words to describe his opponent, governor mitt romney. he was talking to "rolling stone". the president was told that the editor's 6-year-old was pulling for him. the president responded for him, you know, kids have got instinct. they look at the other guy and say, well, that is a bser, i can tell. except the president did not use the bse. he used whole thing. ed henry is traveling with the president in tampa.

what can you tell us about this and everything else out there? >> reporter: bs, let's go to ed henry now? martha: exactly. >> reporter: the president is behind me, just started speaking here in tampa. bottom line i think it is probably slightly blunter, more direct way i've been hear from the president day after day out here in the battleground states. he is trying to make a direct, personal charge, directed right at republican mitt romney in these final days that you simply can not trust him. he is flip-flopping too much. in the "rolling stone" interview the president said in 2008, i said i reform wall street, i would increase pell grants and do all these things. he believes he done a lot of them. he checked those boxes. he believes mitt romney in his words have been all over the map on some of these key issues. look how he puts on the stomach. >> we joke about "romnesia", but the reason i bring this up because it speaks to something serious, and that is, the issue of trust. but there's no more serious

issue in the presidential campaign than who can you trust. trust matters. who's going to look out for you? >> reporter: we're also learning this morning the president is going to be bringing out one of his biggest surrogates bill clinton on monday. they will hit three battleground states together. first real time in weeks or months they have been stumping together. they will be here in florida on monday as well as ohio and virginia. all three important to the president and mitt romney. interesting to note that the romney campaign has been firing back. look if this election is all about trust, what about e-mails dribbling out about what the white house knew about the terror attack in libya? so if trust is on the table both sides will get their licks in, martha. martha: we'll look at that with john mccain and bob corker a few minutes away. after a red-eye flight on air force one the president is wrapping up it has been a rapid campaign schedule. >> reporter: it is. i think it is very telling.

normally you don't do the fly arounds, six battlegrounds, 48 hours until the final weekend campaign. the president is doing it now. he got here in tampa before the sun came up because of an all-night flight in las vegas. realizes he lost some of the momentum from republican mitt romney. he has to seeds that back. he slept aboard air force one. had a rally late last night in las vegas with katy perry. apparently had a ballot dress, she called a ballot dress and a dress with mitt romney and president obama with a check. i'm not sure it is like the meat dress lady gaga had but maybe in the same vein. martha: you wonder if those will be in mass production anytime soon. thank you. we'll check in with you. bill: dozen days on the calendar. it will be a grueling schedule next 12 days. president obama wrapping up what he calls a 48 hour marathon extravaganza from tampa, to richmond, virginia,

hometown of chicago and cleveland ohio, later tonight. governor romney with a laser like focus on all important swing state. bill: hitting cincinnati and worthington and defiance, ohio, in the northern part. paul ryan is in bristol and charlottesville. the candidates honing their message in the final few days appealing to to voters in the critical swing states. >> if i'm elected president, when i'm president -- [cheers and applause] i will do everything in my power to restore those principles america relied upon to build a strong economy and be leader of the world. >> the reason i want four more years is because i've got a plan that will actually create jobs. a plan that will actually create middle class security. bill: so that from yesterday. first iowa, then colorado you see there. vice president joe biden not campaigning today. he is attending a prayer service for the late senator

george mcgovern who died on sunday. martha. martha: former secretary of state and long time republican colin powell says he is sticking by president obama. here he is. >> i voted for him in 2008 and i plan to stick with him in 2012 and he will vote for he and vice president joe biden next month. >> that is endorsement of president obama for re-election? >> yes. martha: powell says he is supporting the president because he ended the war in iraq and because of his plan to pull out troops from afghanistan. no question there for colin powell by the way about libya. we'll talk about that coming up. bill: meanwhile paul ryan declaring the war on poverty and poverty is winning. he used his economic message to rally supporters in cleveland ohio. that is key hoe ga county a lot of democratic votes in that county. congressman ryan saying he and governor romney will restore america's economic growth. >> mitt and i have a message that is bigger than party. we have speaking to all

americans in this campaign because we believe as jack kemp believed that economic growth and equality of opportunity are the surest path to the pursuit of happiness in america. wherever we are in life, whether we're rich or poor, black, brown or white, american by chance or by choice, we are one nation, rising or falling together. [applause] bill: polling in ohio shows president obama and governor romney running neck-and-neck. it is really too close to call. martha: all right. so with the race nationally really as tight as it could be right now there is brand new poll from the associated press. here is look at it. got president obama and governor romney in a dead-heat. the obama-biden ticket with one point advantage among registered voters, 45-44. those numbers are well within the margin of error. those are registered voters poll not likely voters which

we focus on. bill: among woman the president's advantage. the new ap poll shows the candidates are dead even 47-47. compare that to a month ago, when governor romney was 16 points behind with that critical group of voters. martha: for a visual how tight the race is, watch crowds greeting candidates as they move around the country. president obama going from a record breaking crowd in denver four years ago to six, about 16,000 people showed up for a rally yesterday. now take a look at this. during the 2008 presidential race a much different story at similar event. october 26th, right about now, 2008 the crowd was more than 100,000 strong, turning out for president obama, 16,000 is the recent count. so this all important swing state, colorado has nine electoral votes. 270 of course is that magic number that both of these

gentlemen want to reach. look at latest "real clear politics" average in colorado. very tight race. a lot of folks say, karl rove early on said it might come down to colorado. here we are, 47.6, 47.8. can't get even a pencil through that margin, bill. bill: decimal point. turning to the attack in libya. new questions about our response and why some of our military resources were not used there. a small group of special forces dispatched from tripoli during the attack. some experts are criticizing the pentagon not sending larger units that may have got there faster like our f-16 fighter jets operating out of italy. whatever the truth we'll talk about that with a significant guest, martha. martha: we are. we're getting started here thursday. fox news obtained more state department e-mails own the immediate reaction after the attack in libya. secretary of state hillary clinton is responding.

senator john mccain joins us live a few minutes from now with that. bill: how about this perfect storm? a hurricane, nor'easter bearing down on the east coast? is that possible? come on. >> president obama with harsh words to describe governor romney. was the word that he used, would you consider it to be presidential? a fair and balanced debate on that. monica, doug schoen, coming up. >> they have been unable to lay out a agenda to what to do to help america. they have been unable to defend and describe what they do to get our economy going again. that is with a president out of ideas and out of excuses, november 6th, you can make sure you put him out of office. [cheers and applause]

bill: fox news has obtained more internal e-mails. this one sent by the state department to members of the obama administration. now this document describes an attack on a shelter about a mile away from the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya,

under mortar attack. here is secretary of state hillary clinton downplaying some of those e-mails a bit yesterday at the state department. >> you know, posting something on facebook is not in and of itself evidence and i think it just underscores how fluid the reporting was at the time and continued for some time to be. bill: senator john mccain is one of three members of the senate who just sent a letter to the white house asking for more questions. member of the senate armed services committee. sir, welcome back here to "america's newsroom". >> thank you, bill. bill: my first question is a simple one. based on the e-mails that are we're now seeing that were transmitted to hundreds of members of the administration throughout washington, how do they now change the story in your view? >> well, it's just, by the way, i always admired secretary clinton and frankly i'm, i'm really a little bit saddened because

she is really harming her reputation by engaging in this incredible cover-up, throwing herself under the a bus. a couple of times she has done that but, you know, it's not a posting on facebook. this is e-mails sent from the scene that alerted people and warned them there this was going on. you know, there are fundamental statement as, during, this whole thing, at least for 10 or 12 days was that it was quote, a spontaneous demonstration, triggered by a hateful video. bill, there was no demonstration. so, and nor is there any evidence whatsoever that they ever transmitted that information. so somewhere somebody manufactured this whole scenario that the demonstration in cairo then caused one in benghazi and, just got out of hand. you don't go to demonstrations with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. and everybody knew that.

bill: what did you think, hillary clinton says we're cherry-picking information. >> well what information do they have? what intelligence basis did they say that this was a spontaneous demonstration? there is none because there was no demonstration. chris stevens said good-bye to the turkish ambassador at 8:30 at night and there was nothing happening. there is real-time videos that were being sent back about this attack. it was clear it was not a demonstration. it went on for seven hours. and on this whole issue of the military and where they were, september 11th should have been a key day. we should have had forces on alert. we should have had f-16s. we should have had other forces on alert because we know september 11 is a day of great tension throughout that part of the world. finally again, the warnings, chris stevens's last message to the white house or back

to the state department before he died was his concerns about the lack of security. what did the president know about the attacks of october and april that were attacks on the embassy? why did the british close the consulate? why did the british close their consulate? why did the red cross leave? why did lieutenant colonel woods say we were the last flag standing? because of their inappropriate failure to act because of information they had, the consulate in benghazi became a deathtrap. bill: you asked three specific questions in your letter of yesterday. here is one of them. why were asks for greater security was not fulfilled? who is responsible for that decision, senator? >> well, first of you will obviously goes up to the state department and maybe the president didn't know about those but didn't the president know, wasn't he briefed about the previous attacks on our consulate? both in april and in june?

wasn't he told of the deteriorating situation, security situation in benghazi which everybody knew about? obviously the british knew about it because they closed their consulate. so maybe he didn't know exactly some of the details but, my god, he should have been briefed. we have american citizens in that consulate whose lives were literally in danger and there were plenty of warnings about it. bill: sorry about the interruption. one more point on this. susan rice on the talk shows. she hit all five of them five days afterward blamed on video. president was on david letterman following monday, there abouts talking about the video again. joe biden said in the debate with paul ryan they did not know essentially at white house what was happening. these e-mails in realtime put you inside the situation room inside the white house. what does that mean? >> they're either intentionally the american people or the gross incompetence doesn't qualify

the president to be commander-in-chief. look, the president of the united states needs to go on television and tell the american people exactly what happened here. four brave americans lot of their lives. a consulate was literally destroyed. this is a first time we've lost an ambassador in many many years. bill: 37. >> the president needs to clear this up with the american people and obviously he is not going to do that. that is a dereliction of duty in my view and i think the american people deserve a lot better leadership than what they're getting out him. bill: john mccain, thank you, senator. >> thank you. bill: good to have you. martha. martha: strong words. more on that later. all right, so back to the campaign trail here for a moment. the buckeye state is shaping up as a must-win once again. this is a live look at the ohio state university. college campuses are heating up as a major front in the battle to win this campaign and this state but what will it take to win over the kids with the backpacks walking

across there on that beautiful fall day? this. >> there is no hiding under a rock. you have to be in a different universe if you haven't received some means of voter contact, whether it is a phone call, a door knock. >> there is a lot of weight on your shoulders. >> a lot of weight. a lot of weight. ♪ [ male announcer ] start with nothing, build a ground-breaking car. good. now build a time machine. go here, find someone who can build a futuristic dash board display. bring future guy back. watch him build a tft display like nothing you've ever seen. get him to explain exactly what that is. the thin film transistor display... [ male announcer ] mmm, maybe not. just show it. customize the dash, give it park assist. the fuel efficiency flower thing. send future guy home, his work here is done. destroy time machine. win some awards, send in brady. that's how you do it. easy.

martha: we said it a lot but it's still extremely true in this case. ohio could be the make-or-break state when we are all here on the evening of november 6 watching these numbers come in. polls are showing right now it not get much closer there. real clear average of the polls giving president obama just a two-point advantage. here is how it stacks up in the average of polls for ohio. really tight. the battle for ohio's 18 elector rats is heating up on the college state

campuses as well where 200,000 student votes could be up for grabs. steve brown live on ohio state university columbus campus. good morninging, steve. >> reporter: good morning martha. everybody knows how the 2008 story the future president swamped youth vote and got them to turn out in huge numbers. that is particularly true in the state of ohio. early indications however in 2012 an exact repeat performance seems less likely. >> i have friends who graduated this past year who are now baby sitting. one is working at a pool, when they graduated from the ohio state university with very good degrees. >> reporter: even without the sluggish economy

things. martha: steve brown on campus there in ohio.

go to mr. bill, mr. ohio. bill: martha, i quickly i want to show you the three stops governor romney is making the significance for that today. he will start down here, president obama won the state as you know by five points over senator mccain five years ago. this is cincinnati, this is hamilton county. a built after swing district. but a lot of republican voters. president obama took over senator mccain by eight points. you see the red around hamilton county? collar counties around cincinnati that is where republican votes are found in the state of ohio. second stop, the blue county of franklin that is where the ohio state university is. governor romney in worthington, ohio, a suburb. a lot of white suburban voters in the town of worthington. you we see him up here in defiance county. not a lot of votes in defiance. there is general motors plant in that county, in the

town of defiance, that is where romney will be later today. the mccain won by two points. back in 2004, look what george bush did in defiance. 62% of the vote in the county. tells you a lot of votes to be had there. that is what romney team is trying to drive up the vote in the northwestern part of ohio. we'll be down here in hamilton count, cincinnati, coming monday in "america's newsroom." we'll be all over the state. check us out from ohio on monday. give you a sense what we're picking up on the ground 18 electoral votes. martha: they're defiant there. no doubt. everybody wants to win their vote. thank you, bill. coming up here in the studio, president obama is taking a lot of heat from conservatives using words like "romnesia" and liar to describe governor romney. now he is calling mitt romney a bser. that is what he said about him. is that presidential? send me a tweet @marthamaccallum. we'll have more in a fair and balanced debate how

everybody is treating each other. why the east coast could be in for a monster. look at that, sandy, nice name, right? package punch just in time for halloween. we'll be right back. ♪

martha: well president obama apparently not mincing words

about governor romney during an interview with "rolling stone" magazine. according to the article an executive editor asked, 6-year-old daughter on his way out the door this morning what would you like me to say to the president, tell him quote, you can do it. she was cheering him on. so mr. obama said in this article, you know kids have good instincts. look at the other guy and say that is a bser, i can tell. that is not that he said bs'er. that is way we translated it. we have doug schoen, former pollster for president bill clinton and monica crowley, fox news contributor and good friends of the show. let me start with you, doug. what do you think about that? is that something you generally expect a president to be throwing around? >> no, of course you don't. i think the larger issue here, martha, is that this was a president who ran in 2008 and spoke at the democratic convention in 2004 on hope and change, on

ending partisanship, on changing the discourse and dialogue in america. and i understand his frustration in the waning days of an election campaign, but presidents presidential candidates, really no one in high elective office should talk that way. martha: yeah, i mean, when i saw that it popped up, monica, i thought really? look, everybody uses these kind of words occasionally, behind closed doors or among friends but for a president to say in an interview he knows will be published in a national magazine, i think is remarkable? >> also richly ironic barack obama is one calling someone else a bser. i will leave that point hanging out there. doug is right. this hurts the obama brand. he did run four years ago as a somebody who would fundamentally transform the way politics was done. he was positioning himself as a transcend ant figure. he would change the tone in washington. now we have four years of evidence to show that hasn't

been the case and he hasn't succeeded in doing that. there is also a critical other point here i think that we've been missing is that barack obama is spending a lot of time on college campuses. he went on leno last night. jon stewart recently. he is going on mtv today. he gave this interview to "rolling stone". he is really trying to mobilize the kids, college kids. and at this late date in the race, if you are still trying to mobilize your base, i think you're in big trouble martha: good point. he has several intier -- interviews on that list going that route. play this from brian williams, one of the broadcast interviews over course the week. get your thoughts on it. let's listen. >> folks in your business were writing me off a year ago saying no way i would win. so, you know these things go

in ebbs and flows. the one thing i've tried to always be is just steady in terms of what i believe in, who i'm fighting for and, you know i think that one of the qualities i bring to bear in this campaign is people see what did i say i was going to do in 2008 and what have i delivered and they can have some confidence that the things i say i mean. martha: wonder whose idea was to put them in the corn maze they were sitting in? doug, what do you make of that? >> well i think the president in some way is trying to recapture what monica alluded to a second ago which is, the sense that he was a transformational president. that he was the sort of person who would do what he said he was going to do and change politics. the sad thing is, when you look at the economic news and economic condition we're facing in terms of the debt, the deficit and most of all unemployment, he clearly hasn't been able to fulfill his promises and to the

extent that he did things like obamacare, he hasn't exactly wanted to talk about them all that much on the campaign trail. martha: that's very true. >> it has been a different campaign and a different president obama. i think monica would agree, from the one we saw in 2008. martha: think about the big picture. you know he promised that he would fix the economy, get it back on track and improve our, you know, relations in the world and put us in a better position globally. i think there's a lot of debate, monica, over whether or not either one of those things has been accomplished as doug points out? >> martha, i think there is a different way of looking at it. if you listen closely to barack obama in 2008, he promised a radical transformation of the nation, his words, not mine. i think to a large extent he delivered on that. the problem is the fundamental transformation he had in mind and that he carried out over the last four years is not what the american people had in mind. we're talking about radical wealth redistribution.

unprecedented spending. record-breaking deficits and debt. and as doug points out, socialized medicine. all these things are very unpopular. they have not worked and the american people are now rejecting what he has delivered here. i don't think he hasn't delivered. i think he delivered. the problem for him he delivered the wrong things for america. martha: it is very clear from his demeanor and his schedule knows he is in the fight of his political life right now and he wants people to frame his presidency and that is what he is doing and mitt romney is doing as well in terms of his campaign. always good to see you both. >> you bet. >> thank you. bill: so days before halloween meteorologists are spooked. fears about hurricane sandy working its way through the caribbean could merge with another weather system. some belief this has the making of a billion door -- dollar storm but where would it hit? meteorologist janice dean watching the radar. what the latest that you

see? >> that is the billion dollar answer. this time tomorrow, bill, we'll have a better sense where this storm could make landfall. this could be called a super storm. the perfect storm, as you mentioned. we're talking about a tropical system that merges up with a cold front and it will make the transition from a warm core low to a cold core low and all that means is it is still going to be a very strong system, a very potent system but we could be dealing with something we've really not seen across the northeast. if you live along the east coast you need to make preparations now. still look at a tropical system, a hurricane, category 2, overnight last night t made a transition to a category 3, a major storm. so already a storm to be on alert for. as we go further out in time, this is the latest track. i want to make mention we have a new track coming out at 11 and this will give better indications where the storm will go. it looks like it will hug the coastline as we head

into the next week. indra: and early next week. i want you to ignore this. it means it makes a transition from a warm core low to a cold core low. this would make it a big nor'easter could potentially make landfall to the mid-atlantic and northeast. this is a very large storm. even though the storm emerged off the coast of cuba we're dealing with heavy rain across south florida and the keys. bill: she sounds so harmless, sandy. hope she says that way. thanks, janice den. don't go far. martha, what is next? martha: here is a question for you. has the mainstream media dropped the ball on benghazi? fox news contributor charles krauthamer says the treatment of this story is nothing short of a johnnal listic scandals in his mind. >> this has echoes of watergate but wasn't as complex and sort of long term as the watergate scandal. however, the timeline is the

same. election year. basically ignored by most of the news outlets. president's reelected and then the scandal erupts. [ male announcer ] when these come together, and these come together, one thing you can depend on is that these will come together. delicious and wholesome. some combinations were just meant to be. tomato soup from campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.

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with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. martha: an erupting volcano putting on a spectacular show on hawaii's big island. a lake of lava rising up from mount kilohua. look at nature unfolding. people hear the booms of earth moving and melting below the volcano. the last time spilled from kilauea was 1982 and 1974 before that. they said the eruption will not end anytime soon so. bill: see it at night from a mile away. there is new fallout from the state department e-mail own the benghazi attack. charles krauthamer on "special report" comparing libya to watergate and slamming the mainstream media coverage of the story.

first here is charles on that. >> this is really a journal listic scandal. the fact there was not a word about any of this in "the times" and the post today. bill: today's another day. steve hayes, senior writer, "weekly standard.". >> good morning, bill. bill: let the record show, "new york times" today, page a of-6. e-mails offer a chrims glimpse of what news. the post, a-9, militant group night of libya attack. yesterday was there anything in those papers? >> i woke up first thing because the story broke the night before at about 9:30. we had some of it at fox. cbs done a story on it. i spent the better part of the day following what was happening on "the washington post" website, on "the new york times" website. they didn't pop a story. so "the new york times" at one point had three stories on richard mourdock and his

comments about abortion but didn't cover the story. "washington post" had a story about gloria allred's october surprise but also didn't have a separate story on this for a good part of the day. bill: why are they ignoring that? why would they choose to ignore that? that is a decision every newsroom makes. why would they make that decision? >> bias. i don't think it is complicated. this is, this should be, setting aside the fact that this is a tragedy and it has obvious, you know, effect on the families of those concerned, this is a journalists dream story in many respects. you have an administration totally failed to get its stories straight. has told contradictory tales one day after another. there are new revelations coming on on near daily basis to contradict the administration's official line. it is coming at a time when it could have significant impact on what is going on. bill: that is significant point too. what krauthamer was talking

about last night was the comment joe biden made during the debate. he said we at the white house, more or less, i'm paraphrasing now did not know what was happening. now we have the e-mails showing they were going right into the situation room at the white house. where does that comment stand now? >> you also have ambassador stevens own e-mails from september 11th potentially some four to six hours before the attack began where he was saying, we don't have enough security. this is not going to work. you mean you have basically, i think a three-part scandal. the first part is as you say, what happened beforehand? why weren't these calls for additional security heeded? the second part is what happened in the middle of the fight. why did we not send reinforcements and serious reinforcements to help people that were under fire at the time? a third part in some ways the most complicated part everything we've heard since from the administration's different stories about who was involved from the allegations that this was about a film, from al qaeda ties of the attackers, they

haven't goten their stories straight. there is so much there. there is so much to report on. bill: hillary clinton says, reporters like yourself are cherry-picking information. and what republicans are arguing now what president obama talks about a matter of trust in washington. republicans are saying what about this? i know folks like you are talking about it. krauthamer was really going after the watergate issue last night. are we at a point where you can make a fair comparison to the early '70s with what is happening now? >> i don't know that we know enough yet to say that's what this is but there are certainly suggestions that it may get to that level of seriousness. and on the question of cherry-picking i think that is at the center of this entire discussion. you have an administration spent all of its time talking about the youtube video and having had evidence that this had something to do with the protests in cairo and yet the only piece of evidence that we know about that even maybes any allusion however indirect what happened in

cairo, came from a phone call a intercept of a conversation between two al qaeda terrorists. they didn't tell us about the al qaeda terrorists. they didn't tell us about that aspect of it. but they were happy to use whatever reference to cairo in the phone conversation because it suited their purposes shifting the blame onto the youtube video. bill: we'll look for more later tonight on "special report". thank you, stephen hayes in washington. >> thanks, bill. martha: this story of interest as well. the son of a democratic congressman in the important swing state of virginia allegedly caught on tape giving tips how to commit voter fraud. have you heard about this? you have got to see this video. eric shawn is all over it when we come right back. [ male announcer ] with over 50 delicious choices of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪

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martha: virginia's attorney general now investigating a possible case of voter fraud. an employee at a firm contracted by the state's republican party is accused of destroying voter registration forms by throwing them away in a mall dumpster. eric sean is looking into this and related stories for us. he is live in the new york city newsroom here. what is the latest on this investigation? >> reporter: hi, martha. this is dumping voter registration forms in virginia. that is now being investigated by the state's attorney general. turns out that 23-year-old colin small who worked for state republican party contractor, well this young man is charged with destroying some of those completed forms by allegedly putting them into a dumpster in a shopping mall. three democratic virginia congressman demanded investigation say may be part of a widespread republican plot. local sheriff says it appears what happened was limited and not widespread.

virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli would comment on any possible evidence. he did tell us he would prosecute voter fraud no matter where it is? >> i wouldn't say there is any particular pattern that we've observed around the commonwealth. this is a continual problem. human nature is what it is and people are going to break the law and cheat. and that tends to not know any sorts of boundaries left, right, up, down. and we're going to go after it wherever it exists. >> reporter: the state gop party fired small immediately, martha. martha: turns out, eric, one of those democratic politicians calling for the federal probe suffer an embarrassing political set back of his own, right? >> reporter: the embarassment for democratic congressman james moran. his son patrick. patrick resigned from the father's campaign after being caught on tape apparently advising how to commit voter fraud. he was secretly recorded by

conservative activist james o'keefe's group, project vary taos. he eventually gives tips on how to forge i.d.'s to illegally cast ballots. >> yeah, it is against the law. it will be tough to have --. >> reporter: moran's campaign said patrick made an error in judgement. moran said he told the associated press. he ain't wasn't taking the person seriously and he was unstable and joking and humoring him. but he said in hindsight i should have walked away. martha? martha: perhaps he should have. thank you, eric sean. bill: there is new reaction over the latest name-calling from the obama campaign. have you heard about this? team romney will react to that live, coming up. also. martha: new questions about the military's response in libya. did we do enough to protect

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martha: as the morning starts, we have 12 days to go until the election. every hour counts. both campaigns pushing very hard today to finish strong in these ending days of all of this. president obama is on a whirlwind swing state tour today. governor romney is setting his sights on states. both candidates kicking into overdrive. >> we pulled an all nighter last night. we just came from iowa, nevada, colorado. we are going to virginia and ohio. >> this is our challenge. we will rise to the challenge. i need your help. we are going to take back

america keep it the hope of the earth. thank you so much, you guys are the best. martha: at these guys might have a lot at stake right now. morning, everybody. i am martha mccallum. bill: and i am bill hemmer. this outcome, 12 days away, governor romney likely running right through the buckeye state. no republican has ever won the election without it. showing the governor and a dead heat with president in ohio. forty-eight to 40%. tighter than it's ever been. martha: let's go to karl cameron is live in cincinnati right now, or governor romney will be about an hour right now. reporter: hello, martha. we are bouncing along on the bus right now. this morning, on the way here, mitt romney stopped and had an office scheduled visit with some visitors come and talk with to

people there. he was asked a number of questions about the comments from candidate richard murdoch mr. romney has not distanced himself from the candidate. that is something that he would likely be questioned about. romney said they raised $111 million in just the first two weeks of october. another example of the growing momentum since mr. romney has had with the first debate. the pace of the race's accelerated dramatically. last night in cedar rapids, iowa, mitt romney was pressing his msm advantage, making the argument that it is diminishing on the above site because it is an agenda actually, for a second term. the desire is for real change in the economy. >> the obama campaign is slipping, but our campaign is going into a movement across the country that says we are going to get america back and get

america strong. reporter: both candidates have a long day ahead of them. it seems that neither one of them envision getting the 270 electoral votes about the state of ohio. history and the numbers suggest he has to pull off a victory here. martha: they have to vote when the victory goes on a plat through ohio. we would end up seeing on november 6, that there is no other way to get there. karl cameron on the bus as he follows the romney campaign. bill: going back to the board right now, we have been talking about the what if scenarios. one scenario, 270 electoral votes, the streets behind this are the battleground states. too close to call on the phone. talking about how important ohio

is to governor romney. but we have not talked about how important obama is. traditionally reliable since 1988, the state of pennsylvania and 20 electoral votes. let's say michigan, that has gone democratic for in the last couple of decades, that stays in the president's column. if you click on ohio, you see where it goes, up to 255. what did you get the total for the remaining electoral votes? wisconsin and iowa could put him at 271. when democrats talk about a firewall, this is the center part of the country that they are referring to. it is ohio michigan, wisconsin and iowa. that is a clean path that the president can take that and get

his 270 electoral votes. we will watch it throughout the week. martha: senator john mccain with very strong words today on secretary clinton's words about the benghazi attack. >> i have always admired secretary clinton and frankly i am very sad because she is harming her reputation by engaging in this incredible cover-up, throwing herself on the bus. a couple of times she has not. martha: joining me by bob corker. senator, good morning. good to have you with us. very strong words from your colleagues. senator mccain, who is on this morning. when you think about hillary clinton's role in all of this and how she has responded to it? >> i've had a good relationship with her.

i think this whole episode is unfortunate. i think it speaks to the essential character of this administration over the last four years. that is always find some way to blame someone else for what has happened. you know, as i have been saying from day one, i know this for a fact, i saw this for a fact. i'd have known this all along. they knew from the very beginning. not only that this was a terrorist attack, but they knew which parties were involved in that. i think it speaks of this administration and their continual efforts to find some reason that they are not responsible for what has happened. martha: jennifer griffin reported yesterday here on the show. she said basically the evidence points to a very prolonged fight that ended about seven hours

after those initial e-mails were sent to the situation room. it ended in a very bloody fight, according to the reporting, for two former navy seals. so you have to wonder what is going through the minds of their families and friends as they hear that there were assets that could have been mobilized. military assets during that seven hour. lack of time. for some reason, people were not sent in to help. what answers do we have for these people? >> okay, in fairness -- and my major critique of this has been the response, publicly, about what has happened. i do know i was there on the ground and that they had to call and actually a civilian aircraft. it did take them some time. as well as the response folks from aaa. when they got to benghazi, they had to rely upon a militia to get them there. they took a security route.

i know the response ended up being clumsy, it was lacking at the best. jon: bill: martha: it sounds like we were relying on family forces in libya. i think that is the question that people want answered. when we bring them in to help? >> i think the question actually goes back even before that, martha. with all the things that have occurred in the area, the british ambassador leaving from all the things that led up to that, the previous bombings, why did we not have folks there to secure our folks in benghazi. to me, that is even a bigger question. those warnings were shown early on. way early on. it is the pre-effort, and obviously a response to the administration, which is totally bazaar and misleading speech you why not call and clapper?

leon panetta and others, who would have been privy to this information. is that something we should expect to see. >> yes, i have had a terse conversation with clapper. it was very disappointing in the presentation that he made to senators on both sides of the aisle. again, martha. again, i want to go back to the administration. from day one, this administration has been all about blaming things on someone else. that has been this character of this administration. it has failed. they allow their investments go on five television programs on sunday morning to purposely mislead the american people. i am very upset about that. you would think that if they were not purposely leaving the american people, what they would've done would have done on

the very first show she was on, someone would've said look, she is off base. they allow that go on. that speaks against this administration, politicizing this, not republicans, but this administration politicizing this effort. martha: senator corker, thank you so much. it is good to have you. bill: 10 minutes past the hour. now an obama official says that the presence policy has sent us back three years. martha: and the romney response to that response coming up next over 10

>> the americans don't have the ambassador for never seven hours. holyor e smokes ured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

bill: just getting her hands in president obama's new interview with rolling stone. executive editor told the president that his 6-year-old wanted him to know that he can do it. what happened next raised some eyebrows. according to the excerpt, the president replied, you know, kids have good instincts. they look at the other guy and say, well, that is a "bs-er." they can tell. we have a guest with us to talk about this. >> thank you. bill: when you think about this? >> i think he thought he could win by trying to destroy his

opponent. mitt romney has won this campaign about his ideas and the problem america faces and about a plan to turn things around. i think the comparison now is clearer as we get down to the election day. bill: what is your expectation for how the voter may be in the middle? >> there is no question in my mind that americans will not respond well to that kind of talk. i know women, in particular, do not think that name-calling is an appropriate response. certainly not presidential. especially in times like this. they are facing extremely challenging and difficult issues in their lives. to call his opponent names as the president of the united states, it just adds to your whole impression. big bird and binders -- except that. bill: we were about to find out whether it does or not. you have 12 days on the

calendar. stephen was talking about this 30 minutes ago, talking about the media coverage of perhaps the story in libya, as one example. the last news conference that the president gave was seven months ago. what does that say in an election year? he has done other interviews, but an official, formal press conference. >> it tells you that he does not wish to speak to the american people about all that is going on in this country and he wants to target the little soft interviews that he is having in different places. but if he went to the national press, they are required to talk to him about and national issues, the hijackers, about small businesses suffering as they are. he doesn't want that. he doesn't want to defend his policy and explain the failures that they have resulted.

bill: he is welcome to come on our program anytime. and so is governor romney. at 8:00 o'clock at night, o'reilly is trying to get them on tv as well. this is what he said to mitt romney last night. >> because they don't do interviews, neither has come in to talk to me on this cycle. i understand that president obama will do mtv this week. what kind of rap songs you listen to, etc. [laughter] folks don't really get to see them answering the tough questions. which i think would be worthy. bill: us weekly is going to happen today. [laughter] i think that the white house looks at it from an entirely different perspective. they are thinking i just need 50% of the vote and i win. that's all you need. >> that's exactly right. but they know they're not going

to get the 51 if they go on these big questions and they're going to ask the tough questions, as builders indicated. in fairness to mitt romney, he has been on fox time and time again. no question he's out there. he is addressing these issues every day. he has a plan for the future, but his opponent is not heard the president of united states does not. instead he is a very small campaign talking about little things, and that is the way he has chosen to run this campaign. he expected to be able to win on that. but the american people want someone who has a plan for the future. i think that is what the president is now in a desperate situation. bill: thank you so much. bay buchanan out of washington. martha: a former adviser for president obama speaking out. he says in some cases, he believes that we have actually gone backwards. our panel will take that on. bill: also, president obama using harsh words.

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bill: police on the hunt for a gunman who targeted a family in suburban l.a. gunning down three people, shooting two more at a family home nearby. one of the injured, was a 13-year-old boy. they believe there is a specific reason why the family was targeted, but they said that all he did not recognize the gunman. a suspect was seen leaving the area and a black chevrolet camaro. that's in los angeles. martha: governor romney has a race to the president's advantage when it comes to women. take a look at this gender gap hole. this is a new ap poll that shows

that the candidates are dead even. forty-seven and 47 among women. sixteen points behind us were governor romney was with women voters before. that is a crucial grep where we are. here we are right now. good morning, brent, that gender gap closing has been one of the big issues. and also just how tight things look 12 hours back. reporter: it is a key demographic. a key demographic for the president to win in the battleground states. you saw early on that the president tried to tap into the women vote, the female vote specific ads aimed at women's issues. now we are seeing a concerted effort to jump on the situation in indiana with the semi- candidate there, richard murdoch

and what in what he said in a debate about abortion. you know, despite the fact that joe donnelly, a democrat the democrat -- he is also pro-life and jumping on that issue and how it was phrased. they are really trying to get into that issue. but when you look at the closing of the gap, that is a big deal. especially in these battleground states. martha: just a little while ago, it crossed the lines that the romney campaign made 112 million bobbin for funds in october. what should we look at the next 12 days. where the money is spent from all of that? reporter: it's really just all of it. the ads just don't sink in

anymore. like being out in the battleground states. i've been to ohio three times and i know who is going back next week. i have been all over the place midwest. talking to folks and they are sick of seeing ads. but when people knock on their door or they say to the neighbor, are you going to vote early? are you going now? it does make a difference. getting out the vote, perhaps some of that money is deployed that way and that makes a difference. martha: there was a des moines register issue that the president sort of want wanted to be off the record. but then they went through what he did not want people to read in that interview. at one point, he said if i do win, it will be due to the latino vote. reporter: yes, there is a skeptical side of me that said that was all. they didn't then get reporters to focus on the wind. eventually put it on the record

so they know that the latino section was a focused and apart that he wants focused on. but i do not think overall the ploy worked. if they were that good. if you look at the front page of the des moines register today, it does not seem too flattering. it is a split screen on the front page. one have says ronnie closes with optimism, the other half is a picture of president obama and says obama sharpens criticism. they are not really good pictures. now come of that paper could endorse president obama in coming days. but i don't know if the off the record thing work for president obama speech you iowa is very important in this home stretch. if you so much, good to see you. bill: he is precisely right about these battleground states and the advertisements. you can time it every time the station goes to a commercial

break. i think you are exactly right. >> how many times can you get hit over the head with that? a conservative vision to win the war on poverty. >> we spent all that money attempting to fight poverty through government programs. what do we have to show for it? remark. bill: that is the vice presidential nominee paul ryan want to change the way that the u.s. helps the poor in america. steve forbes is here. is the white house trying to win the war against terrorism or just add that [ owner ] i need to expand

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unitedhealthcare has been helping people live healthier lives. remember, open enrollment ends friday, december 7th. we can help. call unitedhealthcare to learn about medicare plans that may be right for you. call now. ♪ of. bill: a fox news alert. there are new details of a man arrested in regards to the attack in benghazi. the man has ties to al qaeda. the u.s. has not been allowed to question him. the attack on september 11 took four americans, including u.s. ambassador chris stevens and the first ambassador murdered since 1979. martha: along those same lines,

a former obama security advisor is stepping out and criticizing the president in terms of foreign policy strategy. >> the middle east and iran are probably right back where we were three or four years ago. it is -- it is great to be able to come in and try to think strategically. you find yourself responding to the tactical impulses that it faces in that situation. that is very hard to keep the strategic focus. martha: that is very interesting from general jones. joined now by richard grenell, former spokesman for the last four u.s. ambassadors to the u.n. in the last cia covert operations officer. both gentlemen, you have a great depth of experience. good to see you both. and welcome.

richard, let me begin with you. what did you make of endotoxins, not their? >> you know, i think that general jones is understanding things. they wanted to have these big ideas. they wanted to have these ideas that were esoteric. you saw the cairo speech, but you didn't see any follow-up of hard work. it is really difficult to conquer these issues. you look at what the u.n. put out in 2002 and the human development report. it confronts these issues that we face. they are difficult issues. you are going to have to roll up your sleeves and work hard, and i think it is clear that there is an admission on the obama team that they haven't done the hard work, and we are seeing the

facts that they have squandered the last three or four years. martha: you know, mike, when you take a look at the al qaeda situation and isolate it for a moment. you hear the president talk about how we got bin laden and al qaeda is on the run. he doesn't say the second part of that. he cast it in a different light these days. general jones talks about not being able to do things big picture, but you are in a reactive mode. we now know, according to these reports, that we are increasing the drone program that they are looking at having an institutionalized, perhaps, over the next decade or so. if you think about that? >> first i have to say [inaudible] the general jones, his comment, a man of exceptional career. victor says i'm from a high level. well, you have to look at this from 360 degrees. in order to be fair, one thing

that president obama has done is has allowed several of the elements of the bush administration to continue. he is allowed for rock to wind down according to the bush family. he allows for the drone program to continue and perhaps the reason. we happen to be very aggressive in targeting and terminating the enemy. but we also have to be willing in the public forum to confront what we are facing. and to be open and consistent in describing what we are facing. i think that is in part what general jones was speaking to. our inability on the administrations part to actually call this a war on radical islam. martha: there may be no more potent example of that than what we are seeing unfold in libya. that may be the reason why the video was used, to sort of obfuscate what may really be going on out there? >> there is no question.

we have lebanon being dragged into this again they are pushing them out of lebanon, now we have car bombs in beirut, it is unraveling. we have refugees coming over the border into turkey and this administration is not willing to do the hard work of what civil society is doing and support civil society. it is easy to be popular, but sadly come at the end of the day, you can run an election and win on hold, but i don't think you can win to be reelected on health. bill: it goes back to how we have not heard this discussion in a clear way in this campaign. what is the threat of al qaeda in the world today we met with the threat of radical islamic jihad? i would like people to respond that if you can. mike? you set a very important point.

we have not had a discussion about radical islam in years. and national security. we could say that afghanistan is the perfect example of that. what was the issue, and what was important to our national security, when in fact, al qaeda was regrouping, as they always do, in other areas. now you look at somalia and other parts of the world like yemen. we do seem to tactically, as he said at the very beginning, -- and that is good. to get as many targets as you can find. but you have to have one of a strategic view on this. i keep going back to the same point. the administration seems unwilling. then you end up with the benghazi video issue. all of these apologies, and a in a sense. because we don't want to offend the element of radical islam that is responsible. martha: rick, i have to go, but

i want to give you a chance to respond. >> i would say that i know many muslims and i have worked at the u.n. for a long time. they understand that there is it problem with radical islam. it is radical islam. martha: thank you so much. bill: 22 at minutes before the hour. the new jobs report is out for the week. some economists argue that if you see this number, you will see an economy that is not moving. we will talk to steve forbes in a moment. martha: and a story of an unlikely hero of someone who ima unlikely hero of someone who ima stopped a brutal attack on thise person with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide.

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martha: all right, let's get you some headlines at 41 past the hour. a judge sentenced a foreign intelligence worker were reviewing sensitive information.

after serving her jill time, she will be deported. and a new plan that can reach 3600 miles per hour. and how about this guy. tom cruise is suing over articles in two magazines the claim that he abandoned his daughter in the wake of his split. his split from katie holmes. bill: let's see what he can do on that bad boy. republican candidate paul ryan lays out a new vision in what he believes would help america's poor. a war that he does not leave america is winning. >> upward mobility is the central promise of life in america. right now, americans engines aboveboard mobility are not working the way they should. poverty is winning. bill: steve forbes, chief of

forbes media. they give are coming to join us. >> thank you. thank you for having me. bill: what is the over arching point? >> absolutely. it is the essence of the american dream. the belief that we can make progress and do things better. when we have an economy like this where government policy is standing on a way of getting back on track, he is hitting the right note. bill: help me understand what upward mobility as. >> means that you have the chance to move up, earn more income, absolutely -- the irs did a survey in the mid-1990s to the middle of the last decade. people moved up in terms of income and in terms of relative to other people. that is the promise of america. if you have the ambition and desire to get ahead, get the skills and do to do so.

whether it is learning more skills were starting a new business. bill: i thought it was at interesting place to make that speech. cuyahoga county, a lot of democratic votes in that county. it is almost too to one registered democrats versus republicans. >> i think it's going to resonate. people have a believe that in america you have a chance to move ahead. people are frustrated and actually very anxious. we are in this what they call a new normal, which is a new abnormal, where people are stuck. people are not getting those jobs. they are not getting those skills. i think that that is why it resonates. bill: do you remember when the welfare number came out? it was estimated a trillion dollars on welfare programs. paul ryan said you could give every american a check for $20,000. instead of running the programs they do here.

>> yes, you can parse those programs. what he is getting at, the essence of america is not getting money and spreading money around. it is the ability for people to develop their own talents and skills and get ahead. learn responsibility, learn from their mistakes like steve jobs did, and move ahead. that's what it's about. not sitting back passively and waiting for a handout from government. bill: how are you going to change that so many people are getting a check from the government? >> most people get a check for social security or medicare. during their working lives, they put in money, and now they are taking it out. they do not see that as a welfare program. in terms of what is happening with food stamps, some of the sloppy administration there, the big bulk of that is because this economy is stagnating. the government does want to create more dependency. i think paul ryan's message resonates. most people in this country do not have a european attitude where you're always calculating your pension or get a shorter work week. most people want to have a chance to feel that they are on

this earth for one like bread they want to make the most of it instead of being -- bill: would you make of the jobs number that came out today? 365,000 for the week. there it is -- 369. i missed it by a few numbers. the week prior was revised. it was higher at 392,000 a week ago. >> yes, the trendline since march has been most of the increases in jobs are part-time jobs and people who would like to have full-time work would have to take part-time work. i think we have had since margin increase of full-time work less than 100,000 jobs. that is absolutely pathetic. i think one of the points that mitt romney paul ryan has made is this recovery is actually slowing down. this is the worst recovery from a sharp downturn. bill: what is the business waiting on? why won't they expand and move forward if they are stuck where they are? >> well, for very simple reasons. one is the prospect of ever higher taxes. massive regulations coming and

about to come, waging war on the energy industry. trashing the value of a dollar. if you get a payout of five years when you take this risk, there's going to be a 20-cent dollar and 80-cent dollar. bill: are you arguing the uncertainty of the economy or the conditions of the economy or both? >> the uncertainty in the fact that this government is waging war against free enterprise. when you have this massive spending which takes resources from the private sector and puts it in the government hands, when you have ever higher taxes and more onerous regulations and trashing the american dollar, it's not just uncertainty or if it is the fact that that every time you do, you face a new obstacle. bill: that is what elections are about. twelve days away. thank you for coming by. martha: all right, let's find out what is coming up on happening now. reporter: hello, we have new gallup poll results.

who is winning? it depends on who you ask. it looks like at this time that the race is essentially a tie. it is still all about the economy. as we were just talking about there. we have a great guest lineup to talk about the election today. the other story is the attack on libya. donald rumsfeld is our guest coming up on our show happening now. martha: a little girl's murder has been tragic. police believe that jessica may not be the only person targeted. bill: and a stark reminder that it is still hurricane season. hurricane cindy threatening the east coast and florida all the way to maine. latest on that coming up next.

martha: i think this is cool. a blast from the past. scientists unlocking one of the worlds oldest recordings. it was made on a thomas edison phonograph in 1878. you can get this. a piece of tinfoil. use your people talking and music. [inaudible] bill: that is very cool. martha: edison invented that device in 1877. also, the worlds first recorded blooper. a man was reciting a nursery rhyme and forgot that words and started laughing. you can come out that on your iphone. bill: that's nice.

the brutal murder of little jessica ridgeway. a 10-year-old girl disappeared walking to school in colorado. her remains were found five days later. then 17-year-old, this gentleman confessed and he was turned in. >> we need to make sure that he never gets move. for all the others just like this committee to put them away, and lock them up, never let them go so they can hurt no more children. bill: live in jefferson county court, golden colorado there, good morning. reporter: good morning. the initial appearance just happened. charges were not officially filed against him. he will still be treated as an adult temper early.

we expect him to be charged as an adult. the big break came in this case on tuesday night when police got a call from the suspect's mother. 17-year-old austin had confessed to the murder of jessica ridgeway. since then, investigators have investigating his home and truck and a dumpster nearby for evidence. according to a fox affiliate in denver, they found body parts in the crawl space under the house. the rest has this whole area relieved. >> we hope that knowing an arrest has been made to cause her community to rest easier and feel a little safer. bill: colorado's governor issued a statement saying that all the parents and communities can rest easier tonight. reporter: is a complicated picture and we know that he left high school before graduating last year.

he completed his ged, and he is currently listed as a student at a community college, studying to be a mortician. he is described by people who know him as being quiet, yet also smart. he reportedly told police in the confession that he saw jessica walking to school, he turned his car around, forced her into the vehicle, tied up, and then strangled her to death. he lived about a mile and a half away, just a a few blocks away where he tried to kidnap a jogger. a 22-year-old woman back in may. some neighbors say that he scared them and fellow students say he was awed. >> it was almost as if he was so infatuated with the idea of death. that is just the feeling that i got. not by something so specific that he would say, but just he would talk about it, it was different. reporter: according to a legal expert, under colorado law, if

you are a minor at the time of the crime, the most you can get is life in prison. bill: that's a terrible, terrible story. thank you so much for your reporting today. martha: there is a deadly storm out there. it is whipping through the caribbean out there. it is called hurricane sandy. new tracking will, at 11:00 o'clock. it shows in the last round that it is heading the u.s. mainland. we will show you exactly where. they to do that at the top of the hour.

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